Posts by Sofia:

On this day in queerstory: positive moves in legislation

Government records mark the date on February 17, 2009, when Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law. Best known as an economic stimulus package, the legislation also allocated substantial funding for public-health infrastructure, including HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs. Policy analysts and LGBTQ+ health organisations later cited February 17 as a […]

On this day in queerstory: director John Schlesinger is born

On February 16, 1926, John Schlesinger was born in London. Openly gay at a time when few major directors were, Schlesinger would go on to direct Midnight Cowboy, which premiered in 1969 and became the first—and still only—X-rated film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Its story of male intimacy, vulnerability, and urban […]

On this day in queerstory: fighting to equalize the age of consent

On February 15, 1898, newspapers in Germany and Austria-Hungary carried coverage of debates around Paragraph 175, the statute criminalising sex between men. While the law itself dated back decades, mid-February reporting captured renewed parliamentary agitation and public petitions calling for reform. February 15 appears in the record as part of an early, uneven struggle to […]

On this day in queerstory: more than just Valentine’s Day

On February 14, 1898, Magnus Hirschfeld, a German physician and sexologist, published early work linking same-sex attraction to natural human variation rather than moral failure. While Hirschfeld’s most influential institutions would come later, mid-February publications and lectures already positioned sexuality as a matter for scientific inquiry rather than criminal law. February 14 enters the archive […]

On this day in queerstory: Oscar Wilde faces wrath

On February 13, 1895, Oscar Wilde’s name appeared prominently in British newspapers as legal proceedings against him intensified in the lead-up to his trials. While the first arrest warrant would be issued days later, mid-February coverage shows how public opinion was being shaped in advance. Wilde’s sexuality was framed not simply as immoral but as […]

On this day in queerstory: Abraham Lincoln is born

On February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky. While Lincoln himself does not belong neatly in any modern sexual category, his intimate and well-documented relationships with men such as Joshua Speed have long occupied queer historical scholarship. Their shared bed over several years was unremarkable by 19th-century standards, yet the emotional language in […]